Aztec Eternals

It was past noon, the sun was coldly illuminating the earth, and there was nowhere to hide. The white clouds float high and far away in the sky, elusive. The autumn wind passed by slightly, and there was a chill in the dryness. Under the sun, the warriors put on armor and held weapons, besieging the hostile city, and the world was full of chills.

Coming out of the big tent, Xiulot first visited his father.

After a month of recuperation, Xiusock has been able to get up and move around. His face was slightly rosy, and he seemed to be in good spirits.

Shulot said hello to his father, the two chatted a few words, and naturally shifted the topic to the comeback Trakaeler.

"Father, what kind of person is Elder Traka Erel?"

Xiu Suoke thought for a moment, looked at the sky outside the tent, and then said slowly.

"Trakaelel the Elder is the sun in the sky, a symbol of majesty. I grew up hearing his name. His eyes are above the clouds, and he never cares about the birds and beasts fighting under his feet. His thoughts As high as a cloud, it is difficult for ordinary people to ponder. The only thing that can be sure is his strong will! Like the autumn sun, with cold and murderous intent, it falls from the sky, making the subjects obey with awe, unable to avoid and change. "

Shulot thought in his heart. After chatting with my father for a while, I hurried out of the tent and left.

He recruited Kuod, an old carpenter he hadn't seen for a long time. Since he undertook the production of the longbow, the old carpenter's status has increased rapidly, and now he has been appointed by Avit as the leader of the army's artisans, and he is accompanied by several warriors to protect him when he travels.

"My lord priest, during the 20-odd days you went out, fifty new longbows were made in the camp, and they can be delivered to you now."

Kuod reported respectfully, followed by several newly recruited apprentices.

Xiuluo nodded. Due to the lack of metal tools and skilled craftsmen, the manufacture of high-quality longbows was extremely slow. Excluding war wear and tear, up to now, I have only saved enough for two hundred. He had ordered Kuod to recruit more apprentices, concentrate more copper tools, and maximize efficiency. If you want to get a breakthrough increase in production, you can only get the huge artisan population in the capital.

"Kood, choose a high-quality longbow, and help me add fine decorations and patterns. I will use it as a gift for the elders. And help me make a small wooden trebuchet, half the height of a person. Finally, did you do what I told you before the expedition?"

Kuod called an apprentice to ask, and then answered with a smile.

"My lord priest, you asked me to soak the extra bark from bow making in the lime water pond, and it has been soaking for three weeks now. As for the fine linen mat you mentioned, it has already been prepared."

So Luot, led by Kuod, went to the pond where the foam was made. Yes, the idea of ​​making paper has been around for a long time. The task of foaming materials has also been ordered several times, and now he finally has an urgent need and time to light up the papermaking technology.

It is worth mentioning that lime water is a necessity for survival in Central America, and it is widely used in the ashing of corn. Natural corn is not a nutritionally complete food, it lacks the niacin that can be absorbed, that is, vitamin B3. A staple diet of untreated corn can lead to anemia and pellagra, a severe skin inflammation. Pellagra patients will die within five years if diet is not improved

In fact, there is actually enough niacin in corn, but it is compounded with hemicellulose. If the corn is soaked in lime water and heated, the hemicellulose is hydrolyzed and the niacin is released. This treatment also softens the corn and enhances its texture, which is a prelude to making delicious masa flour.

Schlott recalled the process of making paper. In his memory, the essence of papermaking is: break up plant fibers to form pulp, process the pulp to recombine the fibers, and uniformly condense the pulp into paper.

In order to break up plant fibers and remove impurities, there are processes of soaking, washing and cooking. In order to recombine the fibers, the slurry must be pounded into a paste by manpower or water. Finally, distribute the paper evenly, pick it up with a bamboo curtain or hemp mat, and dry it to shape.

This is all the papermaking technology in Xiuluote's memory. As for the whitening treatment, the papermaking skills, the bamboo clay paper baking, and the drying temperature, all of them do not exist. He still had the impression that paper was made from clinker and paper from raw material. The difference was that the clinker had to be cooked and the raw material had to be trampled.

Schlott once carefully analyzed that Central America is located in the tropics where plants are flourishing, and the sources of raw materials for papermaking are very wide, so it is easy to develop a large-scale papermaking industry.

The most common raw materials for papermaking are various hemp plants. The cheapest is naturally jute, which is very widely distributed and produces a lot of fiber. Then there is the daily use of sisal agave, which was used in the ropes used by warriors to capture captives. Then there is cotton. America is the hometown of cotton, and the area under which various cottons are planted is very wide. However, in the various ministries of Mexica, cotton cloth is often used as currency, and the cost of making paper from cotton is obviously too high.

The second is all kinds of bark, such as the bark of sandalwood used now. Mesoamerica is not short of trees, but metal tools to cut and peel them. Then there is bamboo. There are very few types of bamboo in Central America, and they are mainly concentrated in the eastern region. Various bamboo utensils of the Celestial Dynasty have not been developed, but they are used by tribal people to make blowguns. Finally, there are various grasses, such as reeds in coastal areas.

Schlott has seen corn stalks, and he is not sure whether such a large amount of material can be used to make paper. Corn stalks are very hard to the touch and have many nodes. They should not be good papermaking materials. Craftsmen can try them later.

Thinking of cotton and linen, Schlott thought of Mexica armor. Due to the lack of domesticated large livestock, strong leather armor is often only owned by high-level warriors, and cotton armor is the most widely used equipment for warriors.

The armor is the sign that distinguishes the warrior from the militia. The samurai's standard equipment was the ichkavipili, the "cotton tunic," a light battle armor of cotton and linen. Its shape is like a thick waistcoat, each layer is woven from a mixture of cotton and jute, and then pressed into shape in multiple layers. Cotton acts as cut protection, while jute acts as heat sink and sweat absorber. This kind of cotton armor can effectively improve the warriors' protection against obsidian batons and stone arrows.

As the level of warriors rises, after reaching the second-level Vastec hunters, they begin to equip Travistri, "battle suit", a light armor for the whole body. The battle clothes are usually put on over the Ichika Vipili, and are also made of a blend of cotton and linen. As the samurai's level continues to increase, various patterns will be painted on the battle clothes, which will become more and more gorgeous and mighty.

Senior warriors at the fourth level began to wear various feathers, sew various animal skins, and painted patterns of eagles and jaguars on their battle suits. When it comes to the eagle and jaguar nobles, the battle clothes will be upgraded to leather armor with hanging feathers.

As for head protection, low-level warriors will wear various cotton or leather pointed hats, while high-level warriors and commanders will wear various animal-shaped helmets. The beast helmet Kukalatra, a badge of honor, is actually made of wood, not bone.

The beast helmet that Shulot often wears looks extremely mighty, with a colorful and lifelike tiger head, but in fact it is extremely thick and airtight. This made him always give orders majestically and coldly, while sweat dripped from his face.

Once he got the copper mine in Tarasco, he planned to make the bronze helmet first. The wooden beast helmet was not good in defense and comfort. The bronze armor is a bit heavier, referring to the half-length shape of the ancient Greek armor, plus skirt armor and leggings. Only after the shallow iron mines in Colima are developed can more advanced scale armor, armor, and chain mail be considered. As for the most advanced plate armor technology, it seems that it is still far away.

Under the command of Xiulot and the operation of craftsmen, the first papermaking experiment was fumbled.

The preparation of the soaking material has been completed, and the next step is to cook the material. The craftsmen built a wooden cooker with a stove, and first boiled the bark with lime water for a day. Xiulot pinched the bark with his hands, but the fibers were not completely scattered. After thinking about it for a while, he asked the craftsmen to replace it with more alkaline plant ash and cook it again. Another day passed and the bark finally became proper pulp.

The next step is to wash the material to remove the lime residue and some dissolved substances in the pulp. With enough manpower, Xiulot only needs to watch it until the pulp is pure enough to express satisfaction.

Since I don't know about the item of tanning, I go directly to the feeding process after washing. Dozens of peasants used thick and long wooden pestles to beat the slurry repeatedly in the stone mortar, and at the same time picked up impurities and coarse materials. After several hours of this, the pulp was finally pounded into a paste. Shulot took a look and felt that it was not much different from the pulp in his memory, only slightly yellowed.

Then there is the papermaking link that requires technology. The pulp is dissolved in a water tank, and then evenly spread on the hemp mat to form a thin wet paper. Despite the strict requirements of Xiuluote, the thickness of the wet paper in this stage is still uneven. The accumulated wet paper should need to be squeezed dry once, but he didn't remember this, so he went directly to the next step of drying the paper.

Xiulot baked it directly with a bonfire first, saw the cracks and deformation of the paper, and then realized that the drying temperature should be even and not too high. He asked craftsmen to build an earthen oven, and put wet paper on the outer wall to dry slowly. Of course, he still doesn't know the polishing process.

For several days before and after, each link was revised and repeated repeatedly. When Shulot finally got a piece of rough, tough and thick bark paper that was yellowed and grayed, he had mixed feelings in his heart.

"This is one small step for me, but also one giant leap for Indian civilization!" The young man thought complacently, temporarily ignoring the miscellaneousness and thickness of the paper.

Papermaking technology was introduced to Arabia in the eighth century and to Europe in the twelfth century. In Europe today, parchment and paper are still used in half. At this point, the Americas still have ample opportunity to catch up with Europe.

Shulot told the craftsmen to continue making paper without stopping. He needed a sufficient amount of paper to prove the superiority of the new technology. Then he carefully copied the commonly used thousand Chinese characters on the paper with a brush.

During this time he went to see Avelot Jr. several times. As soon as they met, the little golden eagle called "Jiu Jiu" enthusiastically and flapped its wings. Then Avelot smiled and gently stroked the little golden eagle's head, and the little Avelot immediately fell silent, obedient and obedient.

Shulot smiled gratifiedly. It seems that Avette and the little golden eagle get along well. The boy turned and left, ignoring little Avelot's "affectionate" expectations and desires. Avit stood smiling at the door of the wooden house, and the little golden eagle was covered by his shadow.

Ten days later, Xiulot looked at the gift in front of him with satisfaction: an exquisitely decorated longbow, a small trebuchet model, a set of wooden boards depicting "Oracle Bone Inscriptions/Pictographs" and corresponding Chinese characters, a scroll with different front and back There are three full loads of paper for the thousand-character paper book.

During this period, Avit also successively rewarded and dismissed the city-state warriors of the Seven States. The heads of state regiments and commanders at all levels bid farewell to Avit, and then led the warriors on the long-awaited journey back home.

Olosh and the Teotihuacan Legion also bid farewell to Shulot and left. Xiusoke gave his son a hug, and then left in a weak boat.

Two days later, Gilliam finally came from the capital. He is travel-laden, and when he sees Avit, he pays homage to him.

"Your Majesty, the Immortal Sun Tracaelel has summoned you to the capital. Request to leave at least 20,000 Mexica warriors and continue to besiege the city of Hilotepec until it falls."

"What did the old ancestor say?" Avette said with a serious face and bright eyes.

"Congratulations to the king! The elder has agreed that you will inherit the throne, but he wants to meet with you once. It should be to draw a conclusion on Tisok's death and avoid affecting the majesty of the royal family. It may also mediate the conflict between you and the chief priest Kechar. "

Gilliam saluted solemnly again.

"Okay, there's no need to delay! Gather 10,000 warriors, and the army will go south along the waterway, and set off as soon as possible!"

Avit smiled confidently. Things were as he expected, and he was the only suitable heir.

Gilliam bowed and stepped back. He tilted his head slightly, looked at Shulot's joyful smile, and sighed slightly in his heart.

"Your Highness, for the sake of the king, I can only let you down!"

On the second day, two thousand noble battle groups and eight thousand directly subordinate warriors boarded the mighty thousand hundred boats and headed upstream to the majestic capital city in the lake.

This chapter mainly introduces some technologies and current status at that time. There are many specific papermaking processes on the Internet, so I won’t go into details.